Many analysts contend that Pakistan’s security services covertly manipulated the country’s domestic politics before and during the election in 2018 with a central motive of (again) removing Nawaz Sharif from power, says the report prepared for the American law makers

Though Imran Khan, the play boy –cricketer turned politician has won the 2018 general election, the media and political circles in Pakistan view him as a ‘selected Prime Minister. Such selections are not new for the military, which is known as the permanent establishment of the country. Now, a CSR report for the American lawmakers confirms the prefix for Imran Khan. The report prepared as a backgrounder on the Pakistani political setting says, a purported military-judiciary nexus ‘favoured’ Imran Khan, noting that ‘historically, constitutionalism and parliamentary democracy has fared poorly in Pakistan” and that the country witnessed ‘tripartite power struggles among presidents, prime ministers, and army chiefs’.
The military, usually acting in tandem with the President, has engaged in three outright seizures of power from civilian-led governments: by Army Chiefs General Ayub Khan in 1958, General Ziaul-Haq in 1977, and General Pervez Musharraf in 1999.After 1970, five successive governments were voted into power, but not until 2013 was a government voted out of power—all previous were removed by the army through explicit or implicit presidential orders.
Of Pakistan’s three most prominent prime ministers, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was executed; his daughter Benazir Bhutto was exiled and later assassinated; and three-time ¬Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has never completed a term. 2018 National and Provincial Election selections to seat Pakistan’s 15th NA and four provincial assemblies took place as scheduled in July 2018, successfully marking the country’s second-ever and consecutive democratic transfer of power.
About the poll outcome, the CSR report said: “Many analysts contend that Pakistan’s security services covertly manipulated the country’s domestic politics before and during the election with a central motive of (again) removing Nawaz Sharif from power and otherwise weakening his incumbent party. A purported “military-judiciary nexus” allegedly came to favour Khan’s PTI. Election observers and human rights groups issued statements pointing to sometimes “severe” abuses of democratic norms, and the unprecedented participation of small parties with links to banned Islamist terrorist groups was seen to embolden militants (Islamist parties won a combined 10% of the national vote in 2018)”.

Zardari/PPP Era, 2008-2013

After nine years of direct military rule under General Musharraf and just weeks after Benazir Bhutto’s 2008 murder, her dynastic Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) won a plurality of both votes and NA seats in 2008 elections, and the party went on to lead a sometimes thin coalition government under de facto control of her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, who won the presidency later in 2008 and was the country’s most powerful politician until his term ended in 2013. Formal civilian governance was restored, although the military continued to wield considerable influence over the country’s foreign and national security policies. While in office, the PPP-led coalition reversed many of the constitutional changes implemented by the military government it had replaced, including restoring most executive powers to the prime minister

Sharif/PML-N Era, 2013-2018

The 2013 national elections saw Sharif’s PML-N win an outright majority (56%) of NA seats, defeating both the incumbent PPP and a new national-level challenge from Khan’s PTI, which surged into prominence after 2011.The PML-N’s historic mandate was a Punjabi one—more than 90% of the party’s NA seats were from that province, where Nawaz’s brother Shahbaz was chief minister. Nawaz saw his third prime ministerial term end abruptly in July 2017, when he was barred from holding office by the Supreme Court for tax evasion and wilful non-disclosure of significant overseas assets (he was convicted and jailed just weeks before the 2018 elections).
About this development, the CSR report said: Many observers called Sharif’s removal a “soft coup” orchestrated by the military.

Khan/PTI Era, 2018-

Present Prime Minister Khan had no governance experience prior to winning his current office. His ‘Naya [New] Pakistan’ vision—which appeared to animate many younger, urban, middle-class voters—emphasizes anticorruption and creation of a “welfare state” that provides better education and health care, but the latter effort has foundered due to the country’s acute financial crisis, and a need for new foreign borrowing and government austerity.
Most analysts see Pakistan’s military establishment continuing to retain dominant influence over foreign and security policies. Chief of Army Staff Gen.Qamar Javed Bajwa began his three-year appointment in November 2016; in August 2019, this was extended by PM Khan for another three years. He is widely described as being professional and non-political. Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director-General Lt. General Faiz Hamid, previously the ISI’s internal security chief, received his third star in April2019 and began his three-year appointment in June. Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, a key judge in the 2017 disqualification of then-PM Sharif, has led the Supreme Court since January 2019. President Arif Alvi, a founding PTI member, was elected to the now largely ceremonial position in September 2018
Leading Parties The following five parties won 89% of NA seats in2018: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was founded by Imran Khan in 1996. Centrist and nationalist in orientation, with anti-corruption as its flagship campaign issue, the party won numerous prominent converts after 2011. Although Khan had been a cricket superstar, “jet-setting playboy,” and philanthropist, he led the PTI in relative political obscurity for more than 16 years before emerging as a major player early this decade. In 2013, his party won a majority of provincial assembly seats in the Pashtun-majority KPk province, where it has seen a mixed governance record.
Tracing Khan politics, the Report adds: Khan has been a vehement critic of the United States in the past and is viewed by some as sympathetic toward Islamist militants. The PTI holds 149 NA seats—almost half of them from the Punjab heartland—won nearly 32% of the 2018 vote nationally, leads both the Federal and Punjab ruling coalitions (the latter under Chief Minister Sardar Uzman Buzdar), and continues to run the KPk province (under Chief Minister Mahmood Khan ) .

Other Parties

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was established in 1993 by then-Prime Minister Sharif as an offshoot of the country’s oldest party and the only major party existing at the time of independence. With a center-right orientation and home to many religious conservatives, its core constituency is in Punjab province. Under Shahbaz Sharif’s campaign leadership the PML-N won 81NA seats with over 24% of the 2018vote, and it leads the national opposition alliance. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was established in 1967 by former Prime Minister Z.A.Bhutto. Democratic socialist and home to many so-called “secularists,” its main constituency is in Sindh, where it continues to run the provincial government (under Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah). The PPP Chairman is Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of former President Asif Zardari and former PM Benazir Bhutto. The PPP won 54 NA seats with 13% of the2018 vote, and is part of the national opposition alliance.

Islamist Combine

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) is a coalition of five conservative Islamist parties, most notably the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam–Fazl-ur (JUI-F), a Deobandi party led by cleric Fazl-ur Rehman since 1988, ideologically similar to the Afghan Taliban and with links to Pakistani militant groups. The MMA won 15 NA seats—all of them from KPk and Baluchistan provinces—with nearly 5% of the 2018 vote, and is part of the national opposition alliance. Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) is a regional party established by descendants of pre-partition immigrants (Muhajirs) from what is now India. Secular and focused on provincial issues, its core support is wholly limited to Karachi and other Sindh urban centers. The MQM won 7 NA seats with about 1.4%of the 2018 vote, and is part of the PTI-led ruling coalition.